


Just Another Day

by sidontrash



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, minor jetko to move the plot forward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:33:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28989291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidontrash/pseuds/sidontrash
Summary: A canon-divergent AU where after the encounter with Azula that left Uncle Iroh gravely injured, Sokka convinces Zuko to let Katara mend his wounds, and now that Prince Zuko has a debt to repay to the Avatar and friends, and he's dead set on stopping Azula for what he did to their Uncle. Even if that means siding with.. the Avatar.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> hello. i haven't written a fanfiction in a... long time. I've been wanting to write something that isnt for my Video Game idea for awhile, so i give you this. 
> 
> Title comes from Oingo Boingo because their music is great and my google docs file for this is just called "Fanfic :/" and i didn't think that would be rather applicable for publishing. 
> 
> enjoy!

Once Azula notices a weakness, the former grand-General’s attention diverts to the short girl, her lips curled into a smirk. Firing a precise blast of blue flame at the older man, aiming right at his shoulder, a vulnerability— a weakness, causing him to reel in pain. Perfect. 

Of course, Zuko’s outburst was to be expected— screaming out, flames swirling in the air, his emotions clouding his accuracy. The other three benders combined their strength with her brother, as they fired the four elements all in unison, even the Water Tribe boy threw his boomerang at Azula. A feeble attempt, and as Azula blocked their abilities with her prowess, an explosion rocks the ground they stand on. 

The smoke and dust clears, and Azula is gone. 

“What— Where did she—?!” Sokka’s jaw is slacked open as he scanned the area for traces of the princess. 

Without hesitation, Zuko rushes towards his uncle, who’s lying down on the ground, struggling for air. Firebenders are resistant to fire, but it doesn’t mean they’re completely safe from flame’s hunger. Even Iroh couldn’t withstand Azula’s prodigal skills. 

Zuko opens up Iroh’s shirt, looking at the reddened flesh starting to turn white. He had some of Song’s supplies from his stay at her house— more on the Ostrich Horse, he’d have to go fetch them—

They’re still here, aren’t they? 

“Leave.” Zuko demands. He can’t see their reactions, but the girl lets out a huff. 

“I can help him!” She pleads. 

“LEAVE!” A wave of flames surges from his fingertips, leaving everyone else to recoil in fear. 

The Avatar looks at his friends, awaiting their judgement, as he slowly takes a step back. The earthbending girl has frown on your face. Of course the boomerang boy pipes up. 

“My SISTER CAN HEAL HIM! With her magic water hands! That’s like a thing she can do, you know?! BE RATIONAL!” 

Zuko’s breathing starts to fasten, and small sparks flow from his mouth as he glares at the group, then takes a glance towards his unconscious uncle. He continues to patch him up, and he  _ knows  _ that their method would be the faster, more efficient method, but Zuko couldn’t accept help from the  _ enemy.  _

But his sister caused this mess. He fought alongside them. His sister tried to kill  _ their  _ uncle. 

He lets out a disgruntled noise of anger, and quickly stands up, facing away from the team, not even daring to look at them as Katara’s water flows onto the burnt skin, illuminating the burn with a soft pale glow. She finishes the job quickly, and then retreats back to the rest of the group. 

He doesn’t want to look them in the eyes, as he doesn’t want to show tears. He doesn’t want to show  _ weakness. Pain. Guilt.  _

Zuko can’t even muster a thank you, the words just slip away from him when he needs them most. He doesn’t know what to say, yet the Prince can tell that the Avatar is waiting for a dismissal. 

“Just… leave me be. Leave me alone. Now.” The group obliges and heads back to their flying bison.

Now he’s indebted to the  _ Avatar _ , out of all people. Pulling out a bedroll and dragging Iroh’s limp body to a somewhat unburnt shack nearby, he puts some gause on the wounds and wraps them up neatly. Using some fire bending, he brews a rather basic tea— not as good as the one his uncle could make, but considering he can’t rebuttal the taste right now, it will do. 

Uncle will live. Zuko knows this. And yet he can’t seem to fall asleep, and he wants to keep his eyes opened as long as possible until Uncle wakes up, which thankfully— (probably hastened by the waterbender’s abilities) Uncle’s eyes open within about an hour or so. 

“Zuko?” Iroh meekly asks, and Zuko fights the inner urge to hug his uncle. At least he has a somewhat valid excuse. It would probably be rather painful to put a hug’s pressure on that arm. 

“Uncle... You were unconscious. Azula did this to you.” Iroh adjusts his position into a more comfortable one.

“It was a surprise attack.” 

  
  


“Somehow, that’s not so surprising.” Iroh let’s put a groan as he goes to grasp his head.

Zuko pours a cup of tea and hands it to Iroh. 

“I hope I made it the way you like it.” Iroh graciously accepts the tea, and then takes a swig, only for disgust to override his face. 

“Mmm… Good!” Uncle Iroh lies through his teeth, and when Zuko starts to pour himself a cup, he chucks it out the window behind his head.

“So, I’ve been thinking— it’s only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I’m going to need to know more advanced fire bending techniques if I’m going to stand a chance against her.” Zuko pauses. “I know what you’re going to say, she’s my sister and I should be trying to get along with her.”

Iroh shakes his head. 

“No. She’s crazy and needs to go down.” The prince looks at his uncle and then gives him a subtle nod of agreement. 

“Just give me a while to rest up. I am not as young as you are.” Uncle shoos away Zuko. “Once the sun sets, We’ll go over some techniques. For now, I must meditate.” His meditation style is usually practiced sitting upwards, so it’s rather evident that he just wants to take a nap. That leaves Zuko alone with his thoughts (and maybe the stolen ostrich horse.) 

Zuko  _ should  _ take a nap himself, but he really doesn’t want to— he’ll take one after the training, he mentally promises, but for now he sits down outside on the dirt and thinks about what happened.

Originally he thought Azula and her friends were going to help him capture the avatar. Now, it feels like Zuko is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, there’s Azula. Fire bending prodigy. Mai— is Mai… there’s no denying that; and Ty Lee, who is always so giddy for such a powerful fighter. On the other hand, there’s a whole group of young bending masters (including the Avatar) who definitely could beat Zuko into a pulp. (Which they have before, and it’s incredibly embarrassing.) 

Why can’t Zuko just be good enough? Imagine if he had powers like Azula— the Avatar would’ve been in his father’s clutches months ago… 

But… The Avatar and his group fought to defend Iroh. His uncle. They should’ve just left him to die. Why would they help the enemy? Who does something like that? Why would the water bending girl— Katara— heal Uncle’s burns? Why would the chatty boy— His name is Sokka, isn’t it… Why did he stay put and continued to pester Zuko until he reluctantly complied into their help? 

Ugh. This was all messing with Zuko’s head. They must’ve helped him out of personal gain, because Zuko was now in debt to them. That’s exactly what they did! Or… Maybe it isnt. 

“Ugh.” Zuko lies down against the coarse ground, and looks up at the sky, where Agni simmers and the air boils, the stars slowly making their appearance. 

He doesn’t want to fight Azula, really, maybe he can’t— the option of running away and hiding seems like the best option, but his sister will eventually find him, so he needs to find the Avatar before she does. If they saved Uncle, maybe he’ll repay the debt by saving them from Azula. 

Then once that’s all done, perhaps he can just quietly ship the Avatar off to his father! Perfect! Wait, no… Not a good idea. 

They mustn’t be that far from here, now. They do have the flying bison, but it would be a grave decision for his sister to make another appearance so soon. Maybe he’ll find them. This would’ve been a lot easier— if the boomerang boy wasn’t so damned stubborn. 

Eventually he gets so bored that he closes his eyes— and he doesn’t know how long Zuko was asleep, because when he wakes up it’s a new day and also he’s inside the shack now. 

“Funny isn’t it, going from sleeping in a palace to sleeping in the dirt.” It was not funny, Uncle, but he lets out a weak “yeah” in agreement. 

“Let us resume your training.” 

  
  


—

  
  


Sokka  _ was  _ on the hunt for some sweet, juicy meats. And just when he was about to pounce, Mother Nature struck again. Now he’s stuck in a hole, with the little fur ball creature licking at his face. 

He’s been there for a while, and last he heard from Aang is that they were trying to learn earth bending. Well. Hopefully Toph and Aang miraculously make their way to poor little Sokka, all stuck in a hole, with the only company being the sabertooth moose lion cub. FooFoo Cuddlypoops is quite the listener, but he’s not the best at conversation himself. 

“Universe, If I ever get out of this hole alive, I will give up meat  _ and  _ sarcasm. That’s like— my whole personality.” 

The little creature blinked in response and made a noise that a little creature would make. Foo Foo’s ears perked up and he let out a little chirp. 

“You know, mister Cuddlypoops, I’ve been wondering about that Azula chick. Man, and I thought Zuko was crazy! She’s on a whole different level! She’s got blue flames, and I am stuck here with no powers. In a hole. Talking to something I tried to kill hours ago.” Life is truly strange. 

“I am also very glad that Zuko cut his hair. You should’ve seen it beforehand, it was like my wolf tail— except a thousand times worse. Not that my wolf tail is bad— because my wolf tail is definitely awesome, but just to let you know his haircut was very, very bad.” Foo Foo Cuddlypoops seems to make a nod in agreement, even though the creature has no idea who Sokka is even talking about. 

“I can’t believe I’m having conversations with meat now. Oh, I’m going to die in this hole, aren’t I? Sokka— water tribe warrior, defender of the northern pole… Sort of. Friend to the Avatar, lies deceased in a hole. A thrilling conclusion for me.” 

Sooner or later, the mother to this animal makes an appearance, and Mama Cuddlypoops is not one for diplomacy. Sokka lets out a screech as loud as he possibly can, as the full-grown sabertooth moose lion snarls and bares its wicked fangs as it charges towards the boy with it’s horns. If Sokka dies here, at least he died fighting a strong beast, even though he still is  _ technically  _ in the hole, I’m sure whoever will find his corpse will probably do him a favour and make his demise sound way more interesting. 

Apparently, this is when Aang decided to make an appearance, and uses his crazy wind magics to get the attention of the wild animal. It’s still charging at them, though, so Aang has no choice but to stand his ground in between Sokka and the beast and blow it back with a gust of wind. After this, the creature gets bored and with a grunt, heads back into the woods. 

“Well done, twinkletoes!” Toph yells from atop the cliff where the rock came from. “You’ve learned how to think like an earth bender.” Toph slams her foot into the ground, and Sokka can finally move his legs again. “You’re a true earth bender. You stood your ground, steady as a rock.” 

“I could’ve gotten Sokka out of the hole, you know. And since when were you here? Why didn’t you help, while—” 

“My life was in DANGER?!” Sokka interrupts.

“First of all, I don’t want you to crush Sokka’s guts. Second of all, the moose lion could’ve crushed Sokka’s guts, but you were there to save the day. Sometimes all you need is a little bit of danger to actually learn the lesson, Twinkletoes.” 

“I appreciate the fact that you used me as an emotional motivation for Aang, Toph.” Sokka grunts as he stretches out to get the feeling back into his limbs. Toph just lets out a huff that causes her bangs to move a little. 

“You’re welcome.” Aang, now inspired, has been moving rocks and boulders alike all around. He’s finally gotten the hand of stoicism and strength in earth bending. 

Sokka, on the other hand, has learned the lesson that maybe he should be more aware of his surroundings. 

Reuniting with Katara after his disappearance is nice, even if Sokka won’t admit it. Since he had already begun the process of acceptance in his near death, he had mentally prepared his goodbyes to his sister. He’s gonna have to save them for later, now. 

“I’m glad you’re alright.” Katara embraces her older brother., but then she squeezes very tightly which causes Sokka to yelp. 

“Don't do that ever again.” That is a promise he will most certainly break. 

“Hey, I’m fine now. But how are you doing today? What’s been up with you?” Katara looks towards her brother with a warm smile plastered on her face. 

“Well—“ 

“Katara! Check this out!” Aang lets out a hell, and then he splits a mountain in two and slides a half around. It’s rather impressive. 

“So, did you try ‘positive reinforcement’, Toph?” 

“Worked like a charm.” Toph nods in agreement. Katara lets out a hearty laugh and turns to face her brother. 

“Nothing much happened today. But I have been thinking about that encounter with Azula.” Right. The one that left Zuko’s funky uncle rather crispy. 

“I didn’t think he would actually let you heal him.” Sokka chuckles, but it’s not really a funny situation. “I think he was just… angry. As usual. But for once, not angry at us. Which was surprising.” 

“I still don’t trust him. At all. But… I did think I did the right thing, to help his Uncle. I don’t trust his uncle either but…” She can’t turn away from someone who needs help. 

“I wonder what’s going on in his brain, trying to process a kind deed from us, of all people. Wonder what the guy’s currently up to.” Sokka scratches his chin dramatically, letting out a loud ‘hmm.’ 

—

Not too far from where the group rests, is a mountaintop enveloped in a thunderstorm. 

“Strike at me! I can take it! Don’t hold back! Strike. At. Me! Unleash your power!” Zuko screams out into the sky, at the thunder rumbling ahead. He has to do it. He has to be able to redirect lighting, otherwise he won’t stand a  _ chance  _ against Azula. The pictures of Iroh’s body near lifeless flashes in his mind as lightning cracks around him, but not towards him. He thinks about Uncle’s speech, telling him about how he can learn from the other elements, and how his uncle studied waterbending techniques in order to redirect lighting, the purest form of fire there is. 

In that moment, he feels more ready than he ever will be. He feels euphoric, hollering out, beckoning for the sky to take a strike, so he can deflect it. Thinking on what Iroh said, about his “inner turmoil” preventing him from creating lighting fuels him with anger and rage. He can do it. He knows this. But pride is the source of shame… 

The sky denies his request for lighting, and Zuko cannot do anything but fall to his knees, as the storm above him continues to pour its shame onto him, and tears start to stream down from his eyes. Why can’t he be good enough? Why did he have to accept help from the enemy? Why, why, why? How— how can he stop this turmoil? He feels powerless, and most of all, lost. His mind is racing, and he can’t stop thinking about Azula. How she cracked a smile as she fired her flames at Uncle Iroh. How she has always relished in watching Zuko fall. 

He just wants to stop thinking about the Avatar. And the Avatar’s stupid friends. Stupid, Idiots. He’ll have to make his way to somewheres Azula can’t find him. Somewheres he can hide. 

Ba Sing Se. He’d heard mentions of refugees heading towards there to escape the Fire Nation, which although the thought of a prince hiding from his own sister did make him grimace, Uncle Iroh couldn’t conquer the great city. 

Maybe Azula could, but for now, it seemed like a better goal. To escape royalty. 

When he solemnly marches back to the hut, Iroh gives him a look that Zuko can’t decipher. It’s either disappointment or sadness. Something along the likes of that.

“Prince Zuko, where have you been? Wrestling with a thunderstorm?” Iroh lets out a hearty laugh, and the prince narrows his eyes out of exasperation. He hopes it isn’t too obvious that he’s been crying. However, when Iroh offers him a blanket to dry himself off, he doesn’t hesitate.

“We should head out once the storm clears.” Uncle Iroh is once again brewing some tea (that is probably much better than Zuko’s tea.) “Ba Sing Se is a long, long way from here… we’ll have to cross the desert eventually.” 

“Best if we stop somewheres for some supplies.” 

“I know a place, in the desert. We can go there.” Uncle is being vague, but half of the things he says are riddles that Zuko can barely comprehend, so this specifying a place in a desert is a lot more concise than some of the riddles. And Zuko’s interpretations of the riddles are seldom right. 

“...Right. We’ll go to a place. In the desert. Stock up on some sand.” Iroh gives a small grin to his nephew, before pouring him a cup of tea.

“No, not sand. I’ve got to get some ingredients! For my tea, of course. Maybe we could find you a lovely lady friend in the desert? It is home to many tourists.” Zuko grimaces at that. 

“Uncle, now is not the time for romance. Plus, you shouldn’t be setting me up with every girl I meet my age!” The Prince lets out a dramatic huff and crosses his arms. 

“We have other priorities to focus on. Like capturing the Avatar—“ Zuko could’ve sworn that his uncle’s eye twitched when he mentioned capturing the Avatar, but whatever. “And stopping Azula. Or running away from Azula. I don’t know!” 

“We will be safe from Azula in Ba Sing Se, Prince Zuko. Don’t worry. Even I couldn’t break through those walls! Besides, all we could do is apply for refugee entry. As Mushi and Junior! Or Lee, whichever fake name you prefer.” Lee is much more… better than Junior. He’ll stick with Lee, thank you very much. 

“Now, you get some sleep. We’ve got a long road ahead of us, Prince Zuko.” Zuko obliges, and he closes his eyes, trying to drift his thoughts away from Azula and the Avatar. 

Morning comes rather quickly, in a surprisingly dreamless night. A blessing, since that means he’ll be able to stay awake on the Ostrich Horse longer. They eat a light breakfast, then they saddle up, heading towards the city of Ba Sing Se. 

All roads lead to Ba Sing Se, but the most efficient road was through Full Moon Bay. To get there they would have to travel through the desert, and so they trekked onward until Iroh wanted to stop near a shady town because he was “old” and “tired.” Zuko, having no choice but to appease the needs of the elderly, decided it would be a decent place to take a break, considering they’ve been on the go for hours. 

The bar was filled with a whole lot of people who looked like they’d attend a bar, and then there was an older man in the corner playing Pai Sho by himself. Before Zuko could even turn to look at his uncle, Iroh had already made his way towards the man.

“May I have this game?” Uncle Iroh asks the man, who humbly nods and they are soon enveloped in the game. Since Zuko doesn’t want anything to do with Pai Sho at the moment, he resorts to looking around the bar, where he notices two men out of place, almost like they’re looking for someone or something. He diverts his attention to the floor, instead. He can feel their gazes burning on the back of his neck, yet he doesn’t do anything about it.

“I’m sick of waiting. I’m going to claim these bounties myself!” The more brash, and impulsive man calls out, but the more wiser and proper guy rerots with snide.

“You just want to pocket all the gold for their bounties, don’t you?” This gets the attention of all the customers in the bar. 

“Those two have bounties on their head!” Zuko yells in response, pointing at them. Suddenly everything turns into chaos as a full-on tavern brawl starts. Seeing this, Uncle Iroh’s friend lures the two of them away so that they can exit through a back door and head to the man’s flower shop. 

Uncle Iroh pulls out the Pai Sho tile that he always keeps in his pocket— the white lotus one, his favourite, and the two men show tiles to the door at the back of the room. 

Zuko walks up to follow his uncle in, but Iroh turns around and gives him a subtle shake of his head.

“Sorry, Prince Zuko. Members only. You’ll have to wait here.” Iroh closes the door behind him and leaves Zuko along with his thoughts and a bunch of random flowers. Lovely. 

At least the flowers are pretty, though. Now that he’s got some time to kill, Zuko can’t help but wonder about the Avatar and his crew. The earthbending girl is a new addition, but she’s pretty damn strong. Must be his teacher. 

The waterbender girl probably wouldn’t have helped out Iroh if it weren’t for her brother’s pestering. Well. More like she did try, but Zuko’s stubbornness can only be combated by a more logical, yet still rather stubborn person. How will he thank them… for helping him out? 

“Thanks for not leaving my uncle to die. Even though I’ve tried to kill you all numerous amounts of times. Really appreciate it.” Zuko murmurs to himself, then grumbles at the fact that is a stupid apology and nobody in their right mind would ever accept something like that. 

Well, he hasn’t heard much about the Flying Bison from locals in awhile, so he has no clue where they are. Maybe it’s better that way. He won’t have to give a thank you to the group if he never sees them again, which is probably for the best.

For now, Zuko should just focus on being a “regular refugee” and find a job to support his uncle or something once they reach Ba Sing Se. 

Never mind the fact that Zuko is from the fire nation… he’s not really running from the fire nation. He’s running from his sister. 

Maybe… ‘Hey, thank you for helping my uncle and I out. Unfortunately, you lot have been lumped into my familial troubles.’ No, no. That one’s even worse. They’ve been lumped into Zuko’s familial troubles ever since they found that stupid Avatar to begin with. 

Eventually Iroh leaves and won’t discuss anything him and his friends were talking about, but Zuko doesn’t really care anyways. He just wants to get back on the road, and head to Full Moon Bay. Uncle has already forged documents (that thankfully say ‘Lee’ on them, because if he would have to refer to himself as Junior the entire time in Ba Sing Se he would be completely unable to make any sorts of friends at all) so they should be allowed onto the ferry with no fuss.

When they do finally arrive, they hand in the papers, and as Zuko follows his uncle he spots the Avatar and friends making their way to the lady for identification. He dons his straw hat and instead of going into a blinding rage when he spots the little kid who is the bane of his existence, he just lets out a heavy exhale and looks away, for once in his life.

If they end up on this fucking boat, Zuko is done for. He taps his Uncle’s shoulder, who then turns around, obviously sporting a confused look, and all Zuko does is discreetly point to the group, where it seems the Boomerang-Wielder is making a huge kerfuffle. Sounds like they should be good to go. They might have to cross through the Serpent’s Pass, which gives Zuko some relief. 

Uncle understands that Zuko is just pointing out that they are here and that they should try to find their spots on the ferry instead of throwing some fireballs at them. It’s not like Uncle ever has done anything in the attempt to capture the Avatar, anyways. 

They board the boat and are shuffled into some seats, and Zuko’s going to just try and spend the next day doing nothing. 

More people are joining the vessel, and it doesn’t look like the Avatar and friends are coming along. But why are they heading to Ba Sing Se in the first place? Why are they taking a ship, when they have a flying bison? Perhaps it is more discreet to travel underneath the ground. Or maybe something happened to it… 

Not his problem. The gate on the vessel seals shut, thus confirming that the Avatar and friends will have to find another way to Ba Sing Se. Hopefully that gives him a head start to get lost somewhere in the city so they can’t find him and Uncle. 

The workers handed out some poor excuse for a meal (and Zuko has by now gotten used to having some rations before, but how the hell anyone can mess up soup is beyond him. The ingredients are most definitely expired and the bread roll that came along with it is definitely moldy.) and he hasn’t actively complained about something wrong in his life to his Uncle in awhile, and this cold soup should make a good conversation starter.

“This soup tastes like shit.” Zuko looks over at his uncle, who seems that he would probably agree with the Prince.

“It’s better than nothing, Pr-Junior. When will you learn to have respect for others?” Uncle lets out a hearty laugh and ruffles Zuko’s short hair. 

It seems that Zuko’s one off-ramblings have caught the attention of a boy who definitely spells out trouble. He’s somewhat taller than Zuko, and sports a piece of barely hanging in his mouth like he’s supposed to be a badass or something.

“You know, i’ve heard that the Captain of this ship eats like a king.” Ignoring the irony in that statement, Zuko looks up at the boy standing overhead him.

“And what would you like me to do about that?” The boy’s implying that he’s asking Zuko to help him steal some food, and despite the fact that his two friends behind him seem capable of doing it all on their own. However. Zuko isn’t going to say no to an offer to get better food. 

Sneaking throughout the ship to get into the kitchens on the upper deck, Zuko and the guy eventually find out that the supplies of rotten produce and expired meat is solely reserved for the refugees below, while the boy was indeed correct-- There’s a lot more food in pristine condition for the captain and his crew. 

Once the workers are done handing out inedible food to every single passenger and head to the crew quarters, the two boys come out from their hiding spots and take crates of fresh fruit and curated meats downstairs with them.

For a man who said that Zuko should be grateful for what kind of hospitality the Captain was giving them, he doesn’t seem to oblige to fresh fruits and vegetables, scoffing them down quickly. The other guy had handed out food to the rest of the refugees, and the mood all around them has slightly increased, compared to the dread that most passengers shared. 

“I’ve done things i’m not proud of.” The boy next to him looks over at Zuko and Iroh. “That’s why me and my crew are heading to Ba Sing Se, so we can do something right.” 

“Everyone deserves a second chance if they want to change their lives for the better.” Uncle Iroh agrees, taking the bite out of a fresh bread roll. 

“Yeah.” Zuko does not know how to contribute to this conversation but he wants to make it evident that he’s listening. When he’s done eating his meal, almost immediately he’s pulled aside, away from Uncle by the boy which causes his face to flush red.

“What are you doing?” Zuko takes off his hat and gives a look into the other boy’s eyes. So far, this guy’s sole expression is a smug one. 

“I just can tell when I see someone like myself.” The boy responds, and Zuko can’t help but snort at him. They’re nothing alike. Not alike at all. Because this boy is rather chatty and in comparison Zuko is incredibly bad at having regular old conversations without mentioning the Avatar in them.

“You’re an outcast, like me.” The boy continues. “My name’s Jet, by the way.” Jet holds out his hand for Zuko to shake. 

“...Lee.” 

“We should watch out for each other, that’s all. Not like anybody else fuckin’ will.” Jet crosses his arms and lets out a laugh out of self-deprecation. “We could use someone like you on our team.” Jet glances over at his two friends, who are chatting to make the time pass by. 

“I realize now that being alone is not always the best option.” Zuko breaks eye contact with the taller boy to look at the floor. Jet places a hand on Zuko’s shoulder and gives him another smug smile. 

“Whaddya say? I can tell that you’re a fighter. Not just based on the way you acted today, but…” He’s definitely referring to the scar. Zuko takes Jet’s hand and removes it from his shoulder. Jet seems to look at his hand being removed with that same smirk from before, albeit a more… curious look. 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“That’s a no, then?” Jet scoffs, knowing that he’s right. Zuko kind of just wants him to go away, but at the same time, there’s no place to go. “It’s about your--”

“Uncle.” 

“Uncle, then.” Jet’s lips purse. “You want to stick with him, don’t you. But if you ever want to support him by getting a job… Consider coming to me. I know of a few people in Ba Sing Se who won’t question a few… missing objects.” To think that Zuko has come all the way from being a Crown Prince to being a lowly thief. Feels like it was bound to happen. He probably won’t join Jet’s team, but he definitely will need to get money somehow, no? 

“Until then, Lee… good work, and good luck.” Jet gives him a wink and walks back to his friends, leaving Zuko behind to think about his offers. 

**Author's Note:**

> endgame will be zukka, btw. i just like the idea of everyone having a crush on jet except for sokka. it will be useful for later ;) this chapter's mostly to set the plot in motion. But that slow burn tag is there for a reason. so get used to that
> 
> hope you enjoyed! comments and kudos appreciated, find me at my tumblr spicylavablock where i talk about games i like (i will be happy to talk about zukka and this fic too heh)


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